


The Shadows That Consume You

by Cherith



Category: Alice In Wonderland - Carroll
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-05
Updated: 2010-01-05
Packaged: 2017-10-05 20:20:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/45706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cherith/pseuds/Cherith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU - The Mad Hatter has Alice right where he wants her in safekeeping, waiting for the Red Queen and her entourage to arrive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Shadows That Consume You

**Author's Note:**

> Written for LJ's Spook_Me challenge where my Monster was Vampire. And my two challenges were: Fire in My Blood - http://www.ramaguirecoverart.com/gallery_covers/Fire_In_My_Blood.html and   
> Creep, Shadow, Creep - http://vintagepbks.com/images/publisher/avon/avon_117.jpg

"Please don't fight it dear, we all know that the shadows that find you will be the shadows that consume you, and all shadows must come here. It will be night soon, and the Red Queen will rise, so there's no need to struggle, not now."

His whispers breathe warm air in my ear, heavy and smelling of strong tea laced with things even stronger, and I cannot focus. I berate myself for following Dinah, the crazed rabbit, and that stupid cat, and all of the deranged characters I've meet in the last week. It's been too much, and as I sit here, a lecherous and crazed man in a dignified hat, a hat clearly above his station, whispering my demise, I know I am only moments from another breakdown. The tears don't work now like they did when I was giant, and I've no companions left to turn to. My arms chafe from the bonds, strips of my dress apron wound tightly around both my arms and the chair where I was perched having a perfectly delightful cup of tea at the moment when everything became dark and ominous. From time to time, I feel my hands become colder as the blood on them dries and each time only motivates me to struggle again. My captor, his confidants long gone to fetch their Queen, has divided his time between explaining all of the lovely ways that he likes to take his tea, how nice it is to have a remarkable female companion with which to share it, and describing all of the horrific ways this Red Queen will delight in his find, and reward him handsomely.

He has told me many unusual things about this Red Queen of his, things of which I'd rather not know and things I would rather not understand, nor try to. The stories he tells cause my skin to blush, warming me as if my very blood were burning me from the inside. I cannot help it, I believe him; too much of what I have seen in this despicable place have left crazed shadows in my mind. And then, when I think I shall join him and all the others in going mad because I cannot stand his whispers, his closeness, and I have tired from struggling, she appears. The Red Queen, living up truly to her name; dressed in red and black with hair bright as fire and eyes dark and unnerving as an ocean under moonlight. She sweeps across the floor, dress and cape billowing around her, stalking me with her gaze as she draws ever nearer. The man, his hat quickly removed to pay homage to her presence steps forward and gives me a moment to breathe, to blink, to brace myself for what must come beyond this moment.

I can see through her entourage as they all step ever further into the room, darkness has fallen on the landscape outside and beyond these homely place settings. I shudder to think of what lies beyond, what places I had yet to explore or could create such creatures as this tall pale women they call their Queen. The tall rabbit, one with a hat to match my mad companion's, has returned, pride on his expression as he walks with the Queen. He gives me a wink while the rest are distracted, and I hear again the whispers of madness at my addition to their little party. There's a ripple beneath his fur, and in a moment I see skin and a visage that is more human that I had expected. With another ripple or two, it's quite hard to keep track while you frightened, the fur and ears have gone completely, and he stands amid the Queen's trusted party as human as the rest of them. I cannot reconcile this new face with that of the hare I'd seen before, and instead of deciding on whether this is a hallucination or another bizarre machination of this strange place, I look away quietly twisting my arms against the chair and their bonds once more.

More quickly than I can blink, the woman, this Queen is upon me, her hair settling around us both just as silently as she'd moved. She's close enough to touch, and not with my bound hands, but with my own face on hers, and I can feel a chill breeze sweep across my skin as she takes in a long breath and gathers me up in one lingering look. It's then she whispers so quietly that I cannot even be certain she said it aloud, "please don't struggle, it is such a waste," but of what, she does not say.

With one deft hand, she sweeps her hair behind her, and my own long blonde locks off my shoulder. With the same motion, her hand then touches my now bare neck, a hesitant and soft caress that raises gooseflesh on my arm. I feel myself lean away from her hand, my head falling to the other shoulder and I can no longer keep myself from looking at her face. Her features are pale and soft, a slow blush building in her cheeks, but her eyes are large and dark, and I can find no wonder in them, no beauty. They look me over once more, those eyes and she takes her time, letting her gaze linger: on my cheeks where tears from multiple outbursts have dried, my lips now dry and peeling, my chest where the last remnants of my dress's apron have been left in tatters hanging from my neck, the bottom of my blue dress hitting my thigh just where it meets my long white stockings. She moves back from me only slightly, leaving just enough room for her other hand to trace a line across each point where her gaze stops to take in some extra detail, and at each point, I feel the gooseflesh rise under her fingertips. Despite my raised flesh, I feel the warmth under it rising to meet her, leaving a blush that remains after her fingertips have moved on and my skin has become smooth once more.

And when she has finished she chuckles, a sounds that begins in her throat but ends with an exhaled breath that leaves a bubble of silence in it's wake. I know I'm holding my own breath, I understand now that a small movement will bring more attention, and as she takes in a deep breath bringing the sound back with it, I look slowly look away. From somewhere behind her, I hear a sound like a gasp, but before I can find a way to shift and see behind her, she has leaned into me once more. Her movements are slow and deliberate now, and she crouches to find herself level with me. It's easier now to see around her, and the others have gathered closer in the last few moments, close enough I can pick up the cloying scent of my original captor. There's a look on his face of amazement, and he switches his gaze between me and the Queen he was so eager to see. I catch a flash of movement to his right and watch as a shadow creeps across the face of a man I do not recognize. It feels like hours pass as I watch the shadows crawl from this one man, turning down the lights in our surroundings until I have no where to look that is not darkness except for the face of their red-headed Queen. She grins, and I feel flames lick my face, and have only a second to see her sharp incisors in that smile before my face is buried in her hair and I feel the weight of her on my neck. There's a ripping sound and I have not the energy to scream before I can feel the warmth of liquid running down my shoulder, chest and arm. Sometime later, there's whispered voices and the hard cold ground beneath me, I cannot move, and a bright curved smile flashes in my mind.


End file.
